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More Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please

February 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Children's stories, Childrens Lit, Mac and Cheese, teachers, writing

My eldest daughter was in kindergarten the year that I published my children’s book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please Please. Her Kindergarten teacher and classmates instantly became my “M&C Triple P Fan Club”. I mean, it’s a rhyming book with easy to read words, repeated sentence structure and a memorable plot-twist ending… That has ‘Kindergartener’ written all over it! (Pun 100% intended)

As a lot of parents can relate, my daughter’s kindergarten year was impacted by the pandemic and her class moved to a distanced learning format to finish out the year.

Fast forward a few years and you can imagine our delight when my daughter learned that her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. K, would now be her third grade teacher! I was honestly feeling relief because after Mrs. K transferred to third grade, all I heard about was how my daughter hoped she had Mrs. K for third grade, and I was not prepared to deal with the disappointment had that not been the outcome.

When we went to open house at the beginning of the school year, my daughter quickly recognized that a lot of the kids from her kindergarten class were going to be in her third grade class too. When we pointed this out to Mrs. K she smiled and said that she had asked the principal if she could have as many kinds from her kindergarten class as possible so they could, “Finally finish the year together.”

Her words still make me cry. We are so lucky to have teachers like Mrs. K.

As it turns out, the kids in this class are still diehard Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please fans and they are straight-up demanding another book. So I started writing the sequel and I’m pretty excited about it. The only teaser that I’ll share is that my kids helped me pick the setting of the book, and as a result I’ve been watching A LOT of YouTube videos about space. Excited to share more updates soon!

gray and black galaxy wallpaper — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Titanic and Me and the 1997 Movie and how my Irish grandmother helped me write my Ship of Dreams story by Jina Bacarr

February 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Titanic, Writing tagged as historical fiction, historical romance, romance', ship of dreams, Titanic

Once upon the ship of dreams… me dressed as a first class lady

Can you believe it’s 25 years since James Cameron’s TITANIC film hit the theaters?

And guess what, it’s back in theaters this weekend!!

I’ve seen all the Titanic films — even the one made in German — but the 1997 film is an event to be enjoyed over and over again.

So I have a question, will you go back to the in-person theater and see it again?

OR: enjoy it once more in your own home?

I’d love to know how you feel about seeing it again in the theater.

Jina (dressed as a Titanic First Class lady)

——————–

And if you can’t enough TITANIC, check out THE RUNAWAY GIRL — my Titanic love story starring Ava O’Reilly, my Irish heroine.

I had no problem writing an Irish heroine.

When I was a little girl, I lived with my Irish grandmother for a while and I remember sitting at the big, wooden table with her as she added flour, milk, and herbs to leftover mashed spuds for potato cakes, or wound her blue rosary beads around her gnarled fingers while she spun tales about life in Ireland. Grand times they were, and a lovely thread woven through the quilt of my childhood.

Meet Ava O’Reilly, in THE RUNAWAY GIRL, a girl who wants to better herself by reading books but it’s forbidden to the servants in the grand house in Ireland where she’s in service.

Then when she’s wrongly accused of stealing a diamond bracelet, she escapes.

To the Titanic.

And every tale I’d heard at my grandmother’s knee, every book I’d read, every film about the ship of dreams I’d watched over and over again became the fodder for telling my own story about the Titanic.

Based on my girlhood and love of books.

And the sea.

And yes, romance, too.

And how an Irish girl makes a daring choice on that fateful night when the Titanic hits an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. that changes her life forever…

Super Romance Sale now until February 15th on #Kobo #Audiobook THE RUNAWAY GIRL is $9.99 AUDIOBOOK

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-runaway-girl-2

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…

When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.

Aboard the ship of dreams, she runs straight into the arms of Captain ‘Buck’ Blackthorn, a dashing gentleman gambler who promises to be her protector. He is intrigued by her Irish beauty and manages to disguise her as the maid of his good friend, the lovely Countess of Marbury. Little does he realise, that the Countess is also in love with him.

As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…

A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).

Praise for Jina Bacarr:

‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind

‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’

‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’

‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’

THE RUNAWAY GIRL e-book, print and audio book:

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Imperfect Date-#DumpsterFireLove

February 10, 2023 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Writing tagged as #dimpsterfirelove, imperfect date, new release

What happens when a girl meets a guy over a literal dumpster fire? #HeartsAblaze. My latest story in the #HermosafortheHolidays series released Tuesday in the Imperfect Date collection with a total of 22 stories by some amazing authors!

The story was really fun for me to write. It was great to be back in my make-believe Hermosa Beach with all of the characters that I now feel are my friends. The hero in this story is Rob Greer, who you might remember from #12DancingSantas. I had so many people ask me for a story for Rob, that when the opportunity came up to write for this collection, I thought it was Rob’s turn.

I had so much fun writing this story! And just an insiders note. Knight, Cassie’s dog, is really our family pet, Knight. He’s been gone for a few years and I miss him terribly, so this was a way to spend some time with him again. There’s a scene in the book from real life. When we got Knight, we lived in Wyoming and he had lots of open space. We brought him to California where we lived in a townhouse for a few years with no yard. I won’t tell you anymore, but the scene is both funny…and a little sad, and I had to include it in the story.

Here’s the Blurb for #DumpsterFireLove.

So you think your love life is a #dumpsterfire…

Cassie Harper’s first day as a teacher starts with a dumpster fire, her longtime boyfriend dumps her, then she’s kidnapped by a couple of her new colleagues who insist they’re trying to protect her. Now the whole town has her set up with the hunky fireman who put out the dumpster fire.

Rob Greer is on his way home from work when he spots a dumpster fire at Beachwood Elementary School. The new teacher, is trying to put it out with her water bottle. She’s cute, and he’d love to ask her out, but when a photo of them putting out the fire together goes viral, things get complicated.

Can a dumpster fire set two hearts ablaze? Will social media fan the flames, or dampen the embers? Only chocolate, wine…and new girlfriends can help her now!

This story and all of the stories in the book are a perfect way to spend your Valentine’s week! Hope you’ll check out Imperfect Date!

Hope you have a little romance in your Valentine’s week (you can always find it in a book)!

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Do You Need More Time for All Your Goals? by Kitty Bucholtz

February 9, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Online Class, Planning, time management, writing, Writing Plans

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Every year, when I write down all of my goals, the list contains enough stuff to last several years. And after I trim it down to the essentials, it’s still almost definitely more than I can accomplish in the next 12 months. But I always want to try! Haha!

Do you have a lot on your mind and in your heart to do in 2023? I’m with you, friend! But there’s a saying attributed to the famous American businessman, Peter Drucker: “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”

So let’s work together and both achieve more this year than we did last year! We’ll write down our goals AND how we’re going to measure them. As we keep track, we can look for ways to improve what we’re doing — and get more done.

And not just “stuff.” If you’re looking for someone to help you get off the couch and clean the house every Saturday, there are better people out there to help you with that. 😉 I’m talking about looking at the next 10-12 months and focusing on the most important things to you — finishing and publishing one or more books, helping your daughter plan her wedding, gain some muscle and lose some fat, do something from your bucket list.

I teach a class that’s helped hundreds of writers over the last two decades to get more writing done. Going the Distance: Time and Project Management for Writers. And with my new and improved version, we’ll look at my WHOLE PATH System to working on your whole life, not just writing in a vacuum.

The class will be online and self-paced, so you don’t have to show up at a certain time. But as a bonus, I’ll offer 4 live Q&A sessions during February and March. If you can’t make it live, you can send me your question and I’ll answer it so you can watch the recording.

Now is the time to get focused on what’s most important to you. And starting February 20, you can get the help you need to write more with less stress and more peace and joy this year!

I’ve created a couple short videos on my YouTube channel to help you in the meantime. The first is Easy Planning for the 3 Most Important Things in Your Life, and the second is Micro- vs. Macro-Planning. I hope you find them useful and encouraging!

And I hope to see you in class! 😀

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The Birthday Song(s)

January 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as Birthday Songs, music, writing

I often listen to music while I’m writing, and it’s nearly always to one of my two favorite college radio stations: WPRB in Princeton, NJ, or KVCU in Boulder, CO. No Spotify or Pandora for me.

The other day the DJ Dana K from WPRB decided to celebrate her birthday by playing during her two-hour show songs only from the year she was born. What a cool idea, I thought. I’d never looked back at songs that way. And since this post is the closest to my birthday month—I won’t be posting in February because my slot falls on the 30^th of the month—I am going to do that look-back here.

To give the range more breadth than Dana K did, I expanded my research (thank you, Google) beyond my birth year to all years that are decades for it—so, all years that end in the same digit. I discovered, though, that, like any best-of list, what’s “best” is in the eye of the beholder. Since I don’t currently listen to top-40 radio, those that floated to the top of the online lists were not often ones I would choose to play (or remember fondly).

I did see some favorites, but many other popular hits did not register high on my interest gauge.

I was delighted to find that both “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Suede and “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone were on the list. I am a big fan of the film Guardians of the Galaxy, and those two songs are part of the much-played soundtrack. “Jolene” by Dolly Parton is on the list; I also love Jack White’s version of the song, which came out 30 years later, on the White Stripes’ Under Blackpool Lights.

“Beeswing” by Richard Thompson was not a top-40 hit on the lists, but it’s a stunning song-story on Mirror Blue by one of my favorite singer-songwriters. “Crown of Love,” from the debut album by Arcade Fire, is another on the timeline that swept me away. And I was happy to discover that “Say It Ain’t So” on Weezer‘s Blue Album fit my time parameter; the song speaks to a topic that’s personal for me.

There are many other songs I could mention. Instead, I’ll just slip on my ear buds, crank up the volume, and get back to writing my next story.